Allspice: a pinch of flavor with no trial of its own

The one feeding trial that included allspice used so little that it says almost nothing about it. Allspice made up 0.08 percent of a 24 herb and spice blend, about 0.005 g a day at the highest dose. In that crossover trial, 71 adults at raised cardiometabolic risk who ate the blend at 6.6 g a day for 4 weeks had 24-hour diastolic blood pressure 1.5 mm Hg lower than on 0.5 g a day (95% CI 0.4 to 2.5 lower). That result belongs to the blend. We found no human trial or review that tests allspice on its own. On paper the spice looks rich. USDA lists 661 mg of calcium and 21.6 g of fiber per 3.5 oz (100 g) of ground allspice, from a single record without sample spread, and the UK table agrees within 1 percent for calcium and copper. We have no portion data for the spice.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Per 100 g, USDA lists ground allspice at 21.6 g fiber, 661 mg calcium and 0.553 mg copper. — USDA SR Legacy single record, no sample spread (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Fiber 21.6 g; calcium 661 mg; copper 0.553 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)
• The UK CoFID table gives ground allspice 660 mg calcium, 7.1 mg iron, 1.7 mg manganese and 1040 mg potassium per 3.5 oz (100 g), within 1% of USDA for calcium and copper. — UK composition table, single entry (n = 1 record) Evidence E source
  Calcium 660 mg; copper 0.55 mg; iron 7.10 mg; manganese 1.70 mg; magnesium 130 mg; potassium 1040 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• In that trial allspice made up 0.08% of the blend, about 0.005 g a day at the highest dose, so the blood pressure result says almost nothing about allspice itself. — Spice blend used in the 71-adult crossover feeding trial (n = 71) Evidence B source
  Allspice under 0.001, 0.003 and 0.005 g/d at low, moderate and high dose (0.08% of total)
• In a Polish survey of 270 adults, allspice was among the five dried spices eaten most often by omnivores. — 270 Polish adults aged 19-67, 208 omnivores and 62 vegans, food frequency questionnaire for 3 months (n = 270) Evidence C source
  Allspice in top five by frequency among omnivores, with black pepper, sweet paprika, bay leaf and hot paprika

What your body absorbs

• No human trial or review tests allspice on its own, no study measures how its nutrients are absorbed or survive cooking, and no US or EU health claim names it. — Literature, absorption, cooking, portion and claim searches (n = 0) Evidence E source
  Corpus 0 records; Europe PMC 0 allspice-only RCT or review; R6 none; FNDDS none; 21 CFR 101 and EU register none for allspice, Pimenta dioica, eugenol

What it does to your health

• In a crossover feeding trial in 71 adults at cardiometabolic risk, 4 weeks of a 24 herb and spice blend at 6.6 g a day, which included allspice, lowered 24-hour diastolic blood pressure by 1.5 mm Hg compared with 0.5 g a day. — 71 adults at elevated cardiometabolic risk, three 4-week diets, USA (n = 71) Evidence B source
  24-h diastolic BP -1.5 mm Hg (95% CI -2.5 to -0.4) high vs low spice dose; LDL cholesterol unchanged
• In the same crossover trial, 4 weeks on a 3.3 g a day mixed spice diet lowered post-meal IL-1 beta, IL-8 and TNF-alpha compared with 0.5 g a day. — Adults at cardiometabolic risk, 71 recruited and 63 completed, three 4-week diets (n = 63) Evidence B source
  Post-meal IL-1 beta -9.47 fg/mL, IL-8 -0.20 pg/mL, TNF-alpha -33.28 fg/mL (moderate vs low dose, P < 0.05)
• In 54 adults from the same trial, the 6.6 g a day spice diet raised gut Ruminococcaceae to about 22 to 25% relative abundance compared with the lower spice doses after 4 weeks. — 54 adults at risk of cardiovascular disease, three 4-week diets (n = 54) Evidence B source
  Ruminococcaceae enrichment, relative abundance 22.14% vs moderate and 24.90% vs low dose

Safety, limits and interactions

• US federal rules list allspice among spices generally recognized as safe for their intended use in food. — US food regulation Evidence E source
  GRAS status as a spice; no numeric upper limit set

Who this works differently for

• In the same Polish survey, allspice was one of 12 dried spices whose intake differed between omnivores and vegans. — 208 omnivores and 62 vegans in Poland (n = 270) Evidence C source
  Allspice intake differed between groups (p reported as 0.000)

The bottom line

The same trial reported more blend results. After 4 weeks at 3.3 g a day, the 63 people who finished had lower after-meal levels of the inflammation markers IL-1 beta, IL-8 and TNF-alpha than on 0.5 g a day. In an exploratory analysis of 54 participants, the 6.6 g diet raised the share of the gut bacterial family Ruminococcaceae, with no clinical outcome attached. Neither result can be credited to allspice. In a Polish survey of 270 adults, allspice was among the five dried spices omnivores used most often, next to black pepper, sweet paprika, bay leaf and hot paprika. Its intake also differed between the 208 omnivores and 62 vegans. That sample was gathered through students and their contacts. On safety, US federal rules list allspice among spices generally recognized as safe for their intended use in food, with no numeric upper limit. That listing covers the spice as used in food. We have no card on concentrated extracts or allspice oil. We have no card on allergy, pregnancy or drug interactions for allspice. We also found no study of how its nutrients are absorbed or how cooking changes them.

Sources

1. alsp-r1-01 · dataset
   Spices, allspice, ground (FDC 171315, sr_legacy): fibre 21.6 g; calcium 661 mg; copper 0.553 mg per 100 g
   USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC 171315 Spices, allspice, ground · checked 2026-10-02
2. alsp-r1-02 · dataset
   CoFID 2021 13-801 Allspice, ground: Calcium 660 mg; Copper 0.55 mg; Iron 7.10 mg; Manganese 1.70 mg; Magnesium 130 mg; Potassium 1040 mg per 100 g
   CoFID 2021, Public Health England, code 13-801 Allspice, ground (OGL v3.0) · checked 2026-10-02
3. alsp-r1-04 · randomized controlled trial
   Herbs/spices, g/d (% of total dose) ... Allspice <0.001 (0.08) 0.003 (0.08) 0.005 (0.08)
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-02
4. alsp-r1-07 · cross-sectional study
   As shown in Table 4, black pepper, sweet paprika, bay leaf, allspice and hot paprika were found to have the highest consumption frequency among omnivores.
   Nutrients, 2020 · checked 2026-10-02
5. alsp-r1-10 · search result
   entity_brief.py allspice: corpus 0 records; FNDDS nothing among 5 432 foods; R6 unknown; 21 CFR nothing; EU register nothing; euclaims_search.py Pimenta dioica, eugenol: nothing; pmc_search.py allspice: 1 article (32900002)
   Bioma corpus and dataset search (PubMed corpus, PMC, FNDDS, USDA R6, 21 CFR 101, EU register snapshot 2026-09-21), 2026-10-02 · checked 2026-10-02
6. alsp-r1-03 · randomized controlled trial
   The HSD lowered mean 24-h diastolic blood pressure compared with the LSD (-1.5 mm Hg; 95% CI: -2.5, -0.4 mm Hg; P = 0.003).
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2021 · checked 2026-10-02
7. alsp-r1-05 · randomized controlled trial
   Postprandial plasma IL-1β, IL-8, and TNF-α were lower (mean ± SEM : -9.47 ± 2.70 fg/mL, -0.20 ± 0.05 pg/mL, and -33.28 ± 12.35 fg/mL, respectively) after MSD compared with LSD (main diet effect; P < 0.05).
   Am J Clin Nutr, 2022 · checked 2026-10-02
8. alsp-r1-06 · randomized controlled trial
   Enrichment of the Ruminococcaceae family was observed following the HSD as compared with the MSD (relative abundance = 22.14%, linear discriminant analysis = 4.22, P = 0.03) and the LSD (relative abundance = 24.90%, linear discriminant analysis = 4.47, P = 0.004).
   J Nutr, 2022 · checked 2026-10-02
9. alsp-r1-09 · regulatory listing
   Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings that are generally recognized as safe for their intended use, within the meaning of section 409 of the Act, are as follows: ... Allspice Pimenta officinalis Lindl.
   21 CFR 182.10, Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings (US FDA, eCFR current) · checked 2026-10-02
10. alsp-r1-08 · cross-sectional study
    From all 31 dried herbs and spices, the intake of 12 of them differed significantly between the study groups.
    Nutrients, 2020 · checked 2026-10-02